Complete Course Offerings

Generally, students are awarded one credit for each hour of class time. Exceptions are made for studio, ensemble, and a small number of classes.For complete information as to courses offered in the current year, students should consult the schedule of course offerings available each semester in the Registrar’s Office. Courses numbered 100 through 499 are undergraduate level; courses numbered 500 through 999 are graduate level. Course numbers preceded by a “»” are typically offered each academic year. Course numbers followed by a “T” are taught to mixed classes of undergraduates and graduates. Undergraduate students may register for graduate-level courses with the instructor’s permission. Courses followed by a “*” are repeatable for credit. Courses followed by a “**” are repeatable for credit if the topic has changed (permission from Academic Advisor required).

»MHST 111 – Introduction to Musical StylesIntroduces students to a wide variety of musical styles, chronologically and geographically, through intense work on a few pieces in a seminar format. Performance and repertory based projects; oral and written exercises; library project. (2 credits) Faculty MHST 111 is a prerequisite for all undergraduate Music History electives.

»MHST 117 – Introduction to Jazz HistoryTraces the evolution of the musical language that came to be called “jazz,” with attention to major styles and artists. Emphasis will be placed on aural analysis of jazz recordings and what to listen for in a jazz performance, including a study of rhythm section instruments and their roles in the various styles and the way jazz solos are constructed. Requirements include a research paper, midterm and final exams, and periodic short papers on discussion questions based on reading and listening assignments. Prerequisite: MHST 111. Not available to Jazz majors. (2 credits) Levy

»MHST 221 – Survey of Music in Western Europe, c850-1750The recorded history of music in Christianized Europe begins with the notation of sacred chant in the 9th century. The development of that repertory over the next several centuries laid the foundations on which the composition of music, sacred and secular, was based for generations. We will trace the changes in musical style that occurred over time, and consider the role that the principal institutions of musical patronage – Church, Court, and Theater – played in fostering those changes. Composers to be studied include Perotin, Machaut, Josquin, Palestrina, Monteverdi, Lully, Corelli, Bach, and Handel. There will be regular quizzes, a mid-term and final exam, and one written critique of an assigned reading. (3 credits) Smith

»MHST 222 – Survey of Music in Western Europe, 1720-presentMany of the notions we hold today regarding music and its role in society are rooted in ideas that emerged in the Enlightenment of the 18th century. We will begin with a close study of those ideas and the music it fostered, then follow the rise of music to its preeminent role among the arts in the 19th century. Finally, we will explore the alternative paths composers pursued following the rupture with tonality and with conventional views on music at the start of the 20th century. Works from Bach to Babbitt will be included in our survey. There will be regular quizzes, a mid-term and final exam, and one written critique of an assigned reading. (3 credits) Smith

MHST 251 – Jazz Improvisation: 1917-1955Explores the development of the art of jazz improvisation by soloists and ensembles beginning with the first recordings of jazz improvisation in 1917 and continuing through the swing era, bebop, and early modern jazz in the 1950’s. Considers the social, cultural, and economic context of jazz improvisation. Studies the work of Sidney Bechet, Louis Armstrong, Earl Hines, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Art Tatum, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, and Miles Davis, and changing styles of ensemble improvisation and rhythm section accompaniment. MHST 117 or instructor’s consent required for non-Jazz/CI majors. (2 credits) Levy

MHST 252 – Form and Freedom in Jazz, 1956-74Explores the new forms, sounds, and procedures in jazz improvisation and composition from 1956 to 1974 through study of the work of Miles Davis, Gil Evans, Sun Ra, Charles Mingus, Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Cecil Taylor, Bill Evans, Wayne Shorter, and others. Considers the social, cultural, and economic context of new developments in jazz and their receptions and meanings. MHST 117 or instructor’s consent required for non-jazz/CI majors. (2 credits) Schaphorst

MHST 253 – The Post-Bebop Era, 1949-1961This course focuses on the stylistic approaches and innovations in jazz improvisation and composition from 1949 to 1961, when the bebop language was gradually enriched with influences from other traditional musical cultures, as well as from prominent contemporary classical composers. Taking into account the sociopolitical circumstances at the time, we will explore the works of Bud Powell, Lennie Tristano and his school, Miles Davis, Horace Silver, Charles Mingus, Herbie Nichols, Elmo Hope, John Coltrane, and Bill Evans, among others. Course assignments and tests include listening quizzes, transcriptions, analyses, short essays, and a final individual term project. MHST 117 or instructor’s consent required for non-jazz/CI majors. (2 credits) Faculty

MHST 336 – The History of the Fugue Through BachThis course traces the development and evolution of the fugue as a genre, form and compositional procedure. We will follow the fugue from its beginnings as a point of imitation in the vocal music of the 15th century, through its presentation as Ricercare in the instrumental music in the Renaissance, and culminate with those written by J.S. Bach, and particularly those included in his wohltemperierte Klavier. While there will be a significant analytical component to the course, primary attention will be paid to the contextual reception of the fugue in its many different iterations. (2 credits) Faculty

MHST 341 – The Road to the Open: Musical Developments in the First Half of the Twentieth CenturyThis course will consider the different paths that composers took in overcoming the musical language of Romanticism. We will explore the gradual abandonment of tonality and thematicism in the expressionist works of Schoenberg, Strauss, Berg and Webern; the development of 12-tone techniques; the discovery of new expressive means in the music of Debussy, Skryabin, and Messiaen; as well as the turn toward simplicity and the various guises of neoclassicism in the works of Satie, Les Six, Stravinsky, Bartok, and Hindemith. There will be listening quizzes, short essays and a final project (consisting of a term paper and a presentation) on the topic of the student’s choosing. (2 credits) Markovic

MHST 355 – Improvisation: Performer and Composer at the KeyboardExamines the role of improvisation in western music from the 18th to the 20th centuries, as reflected in the shifting relationship between composer and performer in keyboard music. Rather than customary emphasis on repertoire controlled by composers through notated scores, focus in this class will be on less well-known tradition of performer-controlled composition such as dance music, preludes, fantasias, variations, cadenzas, transcriptions, paraphrases, etc. Class materials include historic recordings, contemporary performance manuals and accounts, and recent scholarly literature. Students with relevant repertoire will perform pieces in class, along with occasional guests. Independent research projects will allow students to develop interests in particular forms, artists or techniques. (2 credits) Labaree

MHST 359 – History of RockThis course examines the development and cultural significance of rock music from its origins in blues, gospel, and Tin Pan Alley through alternative, house and hip hop. Primary attention will be paid to the social import and constructed meaning drawn from the different genres of rock music. Representative examples will be studied, elements of song-writing will be introduced, and there will be considerable discussion about the roles that race, gender, and socio-political events have played in the development of pop/rock music in the United States during the last century. (2 credits) Faculty

MHST 367 – The Operas of MozartExplores the libretto, musical characterization, vocal discourse, tonal relations, instrumental form and function, current and past staging, interpretation, and comparison of Mozart operas. Provides a basis for criticism of Mozart’s operas as they relate to each other as well as their influence on later works. (2 credits) Greenwald

MHST 368 – The Music Dramas of Richard WagnerStudies Wagner’s concept of Gesamtkunstwerk (total art work) as reflected in his music dramas and theoretical writings; their influence on the arts of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. (2 credits) Greenwald

MHST 369 – The Symphony after BeethovenExamines the genre of the symphony as it evolved in response to Beethoven’s symphonic output. Attention given first to the Beethovenian symphonic ideal and its cultural context then to symphonies by Schubert, Berlioz, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Liszt, Brahms, Franck, Bruckner, Mahler, and others. Grade will be based on listening quizzes, short response papers on specific works and a final project on a topic to be chosen by the student. (2 credits) Markovic

MHST 371 – The Golden Age of Italian Opera: Rossini to PucciniSurveys the conventions of 19th-century Italian opera covering works of Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi, and Puccini. Changes in the libretto, musical structure, and role of singers are studied through developments in individual composer’s styles. Works chosen for this semester are Rossini’s Barber of Seville, Verdi’s Rigoletto, and Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. There will be listening quizzes, short essays on the chosen operas, and an individual term project. (2 credits) Greenwald

MHST 372 – The Operas of Giuseppe VerdiThis course celebrates the 200th anniversary of the birth of Giuseppe Verdi through discussion and analysis of his works. The course is also intended to coincide with the 2-week residency of Philip Gossett, General Editor of the Verdi Edition and the recognized “maestro” of Italian opera studies. The course is organized into the three major divisions that correspond to each of the three recognized periods of Verdi’s compositional life – early, middle, and late – used in the essential texts for this course: Julian Budden, The Operas of Giuseppe Verdi (Oxford 1973, 1992) and its condensed version, Verdi (The Master Musician Series, Schirmer, 1985). There will be additional readings for the course, including excerpts from Philip Gossett’s book and the instructor’s relevant publications. Students will focus on a single work in each period, while other works are brought into the discussion to provide context. (2 credits) Greenwald

MHST 373 – Dies irae: A History of the RequiemThis course traces the history of the Requiem from the Middle Ages to the 20th Century. Requiems to be studied include Gregorian Chant, Ockeghem, Schütz, Mozart, Berlioz, Brahms, Verdi, Fauré, Duruflé and Britten. Emphasis will be placed on the changing role of the church and the concepts of death and afterlife as illustrated in the music and text. (2 credits) Handel

MHST 375 – La Jeune France: Music in France from 1870-1950Traces developments in French music from the renaissance of the 1870s to the serial revolution of the 1950s. Representative composers include Fauré, Debussy, Satie, Poulenc, Messiaen, and Boulez. The foundation of the Société Nationale de Musique, the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1889, WWI and WWII are studied as catalysts for aesthetic developments in French culture. (2 credits) Handel

MHST 376 – Post-Romantic Music: Bruckner, Mahler, StraussThis course will focus on the musical language, style and genres of postromantic music. In the center of attention will be works by Anton Bruckner, Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss, but contextual explorations of selected pieces by their precedents (primarily Richard Wagner), contemporaries (Hugo Wolf) and antecedents (Arnold Schoenberg and Alban Berg) will be studied as well. The method of inquiry will be the analytical and interpretative study of selected works by Bruckner, Mahler and Strauss, with consideration of issues such as the expansion of tonal language, redefinition of traditional forms and genres, the relationship between music and text, music and program, music and religion and music and philosophy. (2 credits) Markovic

MHST 377 – The World of Gustav MahlerThis is an in-depth exploration of Gustav Mahler’s music, life and artistic environment centering on his symphonies and lieder. We will study the symbiotic relationship between these two genres in Mahler’s oeuvre, focusing on selected symphonies and their lieder companions. These works will be examined from the perspective of manuscript sources, biographical, philosophical and programmatic background, interpretation and reception. A broader overview of the artistic climate of fin-de-siècle Vienna, its dominant artistic circles and trends, as well as social and political forces which influenced Mahler’s career and life will provide a context within which we will explore the artistic shifts in Mahler’s musical style after the turn-of the century. In a parallel manner, an attempt will be made to reflect on Mahler from the perspective of the 21st century: on the heterogeneity of his style and the broad spectrum of expression and references his music projects – elements which have paved paths taken by musicians, writers, and filmmakers as diverse as Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Mann, Britten, Visconti, Berio, Schnittke, Ken Russel and Uri Caine. (2 credits) Markovic

MHST 413 – The String Quartets of HaydnJoseph Haydn composed 68 string quartets in the years 1750 to 1800 – works that effectively defined the genre. In this class we will survey that extraordinary body of compositions with special attention to op. 1, 20, 33, 50 and 76. Questions of form and content will be addressed, as will issues of history and performance practice. What were the historical antecedents of the string quartet? What was the role of the string quartet in the musical life of 18-century Austria? What was the nature of string instruments in Haydn’s day? What was the seating arrangement for the performance of string quartets? Course requirements include a research project, written report and final exam. (2 credits) Faculty

MHST 415 – Schoenberg and Stravinsky: Old Rivals, A New ViewExamines the music and parallel careers of Schoenberg and Stravinsky. (2 credits) Heiss

MHST 418 – Ives and Bartók: Composers as Creative EthnomusicologistsExamines the music of Ives and Bartók, with emphasis on its social and ethnic context. (2 credits) Heiss

MHST 431 – 19th Century Program MusicThis course examines the relationship between textual ideas and music in 19th-century instrumental works. Pre-existing literary texts and original philosophical tracts will be studied, with an emphasis on aesthetic origins and analysis. (2 credits) Faculty

MHST 434 – The Piano Sonatas of BeethovenA study of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas, including analysis of their musical style and form and of the social-historical context in which they were composed and performed. Currently available scores of the sonatas will be evaluated and problems in performance examined. Grade will be based on listening quizzes, oral reports on individual sonatas, and a final project and paper on a topic to be chosen by the student. (2 credits) Smith

MHST 435 – Chamber MusicLiterature from Mozart to Brahms This course is a survey of Chamber Music literature from the 19th Century conducted primarily from a chronological standpoint. In the course of the semester we will situate the literature in three ways – as representative of a composer’s individual style, as representative of the genre, and finally as part of the specific era from which it is drawn, whether that be the Classic or Romantic movement in Western Europe. Various interpretive strategies will be discussed (as Hausmusik, as conversation, etc.) as well as the evolving conception of form. Composers covered include Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, and Brahms. (Note: While the lieder tradition is technically a chamber music tradition, in this course the focus is narrowed to only instrumental works.) (2 credits) Faculty

MHST 441 – Introduction to World MusicStudies the history, repertoire, performance practice, and cultural context of selected musical traditions. Music covered in the past has been drawn from traditions in sub-Saharan Africa, the Balkans, the Middle East, India, Indonesia, China, Korea, Native America, and Japan. Evaluation of student work is based on class participation, midterm exam, and final exam or term project and paper. (2 credits) Labaree, Row

MHST 442 – Music of IndiaThe classical traditions of North and South India are explored extensively in their cultural contexts, focusing on instrumental and vocal styles, repertoires and improvisations with special reference to the concepts of raga (melodic mode) and tala (rhythm systems). (2 credits) Row

MHST 443 – Music of TurkeyAn introduction to the music of Turkey, with an emphasis on the classical and religious tradition. Through performance projects, recordings, transcriptions, analytical papers, and readings in history, practice and culture, students will explore the continuous tradition of composition and improvisation originating under the multiethnic Ottoman empire, which dominated the Middle East, North Africa and eastern Europe since the 14th century. A prominent feature of the course will be the development of an understanding of makam and usul, the systems of melodic and rhythmic composition. (2 credits) Labaree

MHST 446 – The Music of GreeceThis course focuses on selected topics in the music of Greece from the 3rd century A.D. to the 1970s. Taking into account the historical circumstances at the time, we will investigate the ways in which Byzantine music and neighboring music traditions laid the foundation for the development of Demotic music (island and mainland), and other significant genres, such as Asia Minor (Smyrneika, Politika), Rebetika, Laika, and political activist songs. The course further addresses 20th-century Greek concert music and the establishment of the Greek modernist and avant-garde traditions in the works of composers such as Xenakis, Skalkottas, Christou, and Adamis. Course assignments and tests include weekly reading and listening quizzes; short written assignments; a transcription project of a traditional song that includes detailed notation, analysis, and a live in-class performance incorporating singing and dancing; and a term research paper. (2 credits) Faculty

MHST 461 – Dido and AeneasAn intensive look at Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas within the context of later 17th century opera. This half-semester class will focus on issues of performance practice, history of the work, and editorial problems. It will also consider recent, often provocative studies by Heller, Peraino, Harris, and Price. Live performance of excerpts will be part of the class. Written and oral project on a subject of the student’s choice; listening exam. (1 credit) Hallmark

MHST 463 – Beethoven’s FidelioA study of Beethoven’s only opera Leonora/Fidelio and of the social-cultural context in which it was composed and performed. The influence that the French Revolution and revolutionary music such as Cherubini’s exercised on Beethoven will be considered in this half-semester course, as will the relationship between Fidelio and Viennese operatic traditions of Singspiel and opéra-comique. Grade based on in-class oral report, written essay on an assigned topic, listening quizzes. (1 credit) Smith

MHST 464 – Beethoven’s 9th SymphonyA close study of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (“Choral”). Through analysis of the score and reading from the wealth of recent literature on the work, this half-semester course examines the sources of the Symphony’s enduring power of expression and studies the possible meanings embedded in its sounds. Grade based on in-class oral report, written essay on an assigned topic, listening quizzes. (1 credit) Smith

MHST 467 – Mozart’s Die ZauberflöteDie Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) is one of Mozart’s most complex works, a “Masonic” opera, a fairy tale opera, a musical emblem of Enlightenment philosophy and aesthetics, and a turning point in the development of German Opera that let to Weber’s Der Freischütz. Of special interest are the ways in which Mozart was able to embed so much meaning in an opera that is accessible at many levels to many different audiences. Assignments will include readings and short papers.(1 credit) Greenwald

MHST 471 – Frauenliebe und lebenSchumann’s beloved and controversial song cycle will be the focus of this half-semester class. It will be studied within the context of other cycles of the early to mid-19th century, especially other settings of Chamisso’s poetry. The course will consider domestic life in Germany at that time; Schumann’s compositional process through his sketches and autographs; and the recent, often feminist work done on the cycle by Muxfeldt, Solie, and Hallmark. Written and oral project of the student’s choice; listening exam.(1 credit) Hallmark

MHST 472 – Weber’s Der FreischützWeber’s opera has long been considered a benchmark of German Romanticism. The famous “Wolf’s Glen” scene stands as one of the most cited moments in literature in nineteenth-century opera. Der Freischütz tells a tale of devilish contracts and supernatural events that has excited audiences for nearly two centuries. Weber set this compellingly spooky drama through innovative use of musical motive, tonality, and scenic effects. This course will explore Weber’s opera and other lesser known works in its orbit, including Spohr’s Faust and Hoffmann’s Undine. Assignments will include readings and short papers. (1 credit) Greenwald

MHST 497 – Senior PortfolioSee description under Music History program of study. (0 credit) Faculty

»MHST 081 – Graduate Survey – The History of Western MusicThis course provides an intensive survey of the history of Western music from antiquity through the 21st century. (0 credit) Morgan

MHST 510 – Topics in Baroque MusicThis class addresses special issues and problems arising from recent discoveries and research into the music of 1600-1750. The course is designed to familiarize the student with tools for research in this period, and to develop an understanding of the music’s many facets through the study of the individual genre, composer, or country. (2 credits)

MHST 510A – Topics in Baroque Music: Bach’s Passions and the Mass in B MinorThis course is a comprehensive examination of the John and Matthew Passions and of the Mass, including study of Bach’s borrowings and re-adaptations; the historical background from which the works evolved; structure, both formal and tonal; and the biblical and poetic texts that provided the impetus for Bach’s composition of these three masterpieces. The course will emphasize the constantly evolving current trends in performance practice. Two major papers will be required and there will be occasional short quizzes. (2 credits) Teeters

MHST 510B – Topics in Baroque Music: Handel’s Oratorio StyleA study of a broad selection of Oratorios, Odes and Masques from Handel’s richest compositional period. Drawing on his successful experience as a composer of Italian operas in London, Handel turned, when these audiences fell away, to the composition of large scale English language works and an even greater success. In his dramatic oratorios he created a virtually new form out of a pre-existing one, filling it out in structure, scale and musical invention with music of astounding originality and dramatic power. Emphasis will be placed on today’s rapidly changing performance practice discoveries. (2 credits) Teeters

MHST 510D – Topics in the Baroque: HandelAn examination of George Frideric Handel’s career and works (both vocal and instrumental) against the background of musical developments in early 18th-century Germany, Italy, and England. Issues to be discussed include the later reception of Handel’s music, matters of performance practice, and the rhetorical and structural features of his particular musical dialect. In addition to shorter assignments, students will write two papers: one more analytical in nature, the other more historical, on topics to be determined in consultation with the instructor. (2 credits) Gallagher

MHST 516 – Selected Readings in Jazz HistoryExplores writings in Jazz history from the first decades of the 20th-century to the present. The readings will present a cross-section of socio-political views about the music and its practitioners. Students will read extensively for each class and make one or more oral presentations, individually or as a team. (2 credits) Schaphorst

»MHST 517 – Selected Topics in JazzInvestigates a range of topics relating to the history, politics, sociology, personalities, and performance practices of jazz. Previous topics have included “The Life and Music of Duke Ellington,” “Thelonius Monk: High Priest of Jazz,” “Charlie Parker and the Bebop Tradition,” “John Coltrane, Jazz Messiah,” and “Jazz in the Movies, the Movies in Jazz.” Topic for the term will be posted in the schedule of courses during registration. Course requirements include a research project and written report as well as brief written or oral responses to reading and listening assignments. (2 credits**) Levy

MHST 519 – Jazz Outside the United StatesJazz is typically described as an American art form, and its history is most often set within the borders of the United States. From its earliest days, however, American jazz spread throughout the world as an emblem of progress, peace and prosperity. By the end of the Second World War, professional jazz performers in Asia, Europe, Africa, South America and Australia had adapted jazz into local musical forms, laying the groundwork for the later “globalization” of American sound. Jazz has been embraced as a music of emancipation, but it has also provoked heated local debates on public morality, cultural sovereignty and national identity. This course examines the reception of American jazz in a range of geographic and historic locations; the impact of these encounters on the sound of American jazz; and the current status of jazz as an international music through readings listening, lectures, and student presentations. (2 credits) Kalmanovitch

»MHST 520 – Topics in Music of the Classical EraThis course focuses on different topics from year to year all centered on music from the 18th through early 19th centuries. See the schedule of classes for the current theme of the course. Assignments include weekly reading and listening to be discussed in class, short written assignments in response to assigned discussion questions, and an independent research project. (2 credits) Faculty

MHST 520A – Topics in Music of the Classical Era: Music and the EnlightenmentA study of selected works from the 18th and early 19th centuries, with emphasis on the music of Rameau, Rousseau, Gluck and the Viennese classics: Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. Readings from writers, critics, composers and theorists of the time expose students to the ideas of the Enlightenment. Through classroom discussions and individual research projects, the relevance of those ideas to present-day interpretation and performance of the music is explored. Course requirements include a research project and written report as well as brief written or oral responses to reading and listening assignments. (2 credits) G. Smith

MHST 529 – The History of Sonata FormComposers of the 18th century, building on a heritage of binary form and da capo aria, and embracing the notion of music as a rhetorical art, developed a set of principles for the composition of dramatic music – vocal and instrumental – that resulted in a design later theorists dubbed “sonata form.” In the hands of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, these compositional principles and the music it produced gained an expressive force and prestige that left an inescapable imprint on subsequent generations of composers. In this course we will follow the threads of sonata form from their sources in 17th-century vocal and instrumental genres through enduring manifestations in recent repertory. Course requirements include weekly reading and listening assignments and an independent research project culminating in a written and an oral report. (2 credits) Smith

»MHST 530 – Topics in 19th Century MusicRotating topics include Richard Wagner’s music dramas (the Ring), the operas of Giuseppe Verdi, and Don Juan in music from the 17th to the 20th centuries. Students study original literary sources and librettos that are based on them, the composers’ musical development from early to late stages, differing national philosophies as reflected in operatic development and performance practice. (2 credits) Faculty

MHST 530A – Topics in 19th Century Music: VerdiVerdi lived for nearly a century and in that remarkable span wrote 28 operas that reflect profound musical and social change. Why are Verdi’s works still among the most performed in opera houses throughout the world? The answer to that question stimulates even more questions about opera history and aesthetics, economics, censorship, literary sources and the libretto, musical conventions, national styles, journalism and criticism, politics, and above all, passion. Individual classes will be devoted to early works; compositional practice; Verdi, the Risorgimento, and Censorship; Verdi’s struggles with the genre of comedy; Verdi as a story-teller; Performance practice; Verdi’s singers; staging, acting, and stagecraft; and problems of editing Verdi. We will spend several full classes looking closely at a single work. Readings, two short papers, frequent quizzes, class presentation. No midterm or final exam. (2 credits) Greenwald

MHST 530C – Topics 19th Century: Wagner’s RingThis course is about Richard Wagner’s monumental Ring of the Nibelung: Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried, and Götterdämmerung. Central to the course are Wagner’s compositional style, pioneering work in stagecraft, and artistic philosophy. We will also read some of the original literary sources for the “Ring” and learn about the artistic and social climate in which Wagner was able to succeed. Assignments will include short papers, quizzes, listening, reading, and presentations. (2 credits) Greenwald

MHST 530D – Topics in the 19th Century: Chamber Music of BrahmsClose study of a representative selection of Brahms’s chamber works (both instrumental and vocal). Issues to be discussed include Brahms’s engagement with the music of earlier composers (especially Bach, Beethoven and Schubert) and his handling of traditional genres and forms. Performance-oriented analysis will be one focus of the course. (2 credits) Gallagher

»MHST 535 – Writing about Music: Research Methods for the Practical Musician and ScholarFocuses on methods of musical research and investigation for performers, historians, and theorists. Individual and class projects use research tools and bibliographical materials essential to editing, analysis, criticism, historiography, and journalism. Written assignments include a book review, a program note, short analyzes of articles from scholarly journals, and a bibliography for a proposed paper. (2 credits) Greenwald

»MHST 536 – Writing about MusicContinuation of MHST 535. Students write a full-length research paper, guided through the process step-by-step. There are frequent individual conferences with the instructor. (2 credits) Greenwald

»MHST 537 – Teaching Music HistoryIntroduces materials and methods of teaching music appreciation and music history. Readings and discussion of recent issues in education and musicology, with works by Gardner, Gilligan, Kerman, Treitler, Cone, and McClary. (2 credits) Hallmark

MHST 540 – Topics in American MusicExplores a range of topics related to American music. Past topics have included “The Blues as Social Commentary,” “The Black Composer and the European Tradition,” and “Women in Jazz.” Topic for the term will be posted in the schedule of courses during registration. Course requirements include a research project and written report as well as brief written or oral responses to reading and listening assignments. (2 credits) Faculty

MHST 540A – Topics in American Music: The New York SchoolThe four-way meeting of John Cage, Morton Feldman, Earle Brown and Christian Wolff was a seismic event in the history of twentieth-century composition. Along with pianist David Tudor and choreographer Merce Cunningham, these four composers created a new way of thinking about and writing music through daily conversation, looking at each others’ works almost as the works were being written, and feeding off each others’ ideas. This course will chart the musical evolution of these four very different composers who came together briefly to change the way we hear and think about music. Selected influential works will be examined in detail with additional works creating an historical context. This course will focus ‘in depth’ on the work of the four composers, but referencing both immediate history (Cage’s studies with Schoenberg and Cowell, Feldman’s studies with Wolpe) and influences (Lucier, Rzewski, Lukas Foss, Cage’s influence on Europe via the Darmstadt visits, and the less profound but more widely felt effects of their work on Berio, Lutoslawski, and even Bernstein). Also to be actively considered are concurrent developments in the other arts (i.e., the work of Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Merce Cunningham, Marcel Duchamp). (2 Credits) Drury

MHST 540B – Topics in American Music: American Folk Music: Preservation and PracticeThrough the Alan Lomax Collection The late 19th century “discovery” of vibrant living folk music traditions in Appalachia led to the first publication of hundreds of American ballads, and kicked off a continuing quest for the search for and preservation of American “roots” music. Since the beginning of this movement, “collectors” and performers have struggled with issues of learning, transcribing, recording, and sharing music traditionally passed on aurally. How does one “preserve” music that does not fit into our familiar understanding of harmony and rhythm? How does preservation of tradition change the music? How does American folk music influence our understanding of classical music and jazz, as scholars and performers? (2 credits) MacAdam-Somer

MHST 542 – The Avant-Garde from Eric Satie to John ZornSurveys composers who redefined music from the 1890s through the 1990s. Historical and philosophical study of the avant-garde tradition, the evolution of notation and compositional systems, and concurrent developments in other arts (Robert Rauschenberg, William Burroughs, Andy Warhol). Works of Ives, Cage, Russolo, Stockhausen, Nancarrow, Partch, La Monte Young, Talking Heads, Sonic Youth, and Naked City. (2 credits) S. Drury

MHST 545 – Traditions of Music Drama in AsiaStudies four major genres of music drama in Asia: Kathakali (India), Wayang Kulit (Bali), Beijing Opera (China), and Kabuki (Japan). Each genre is studied within the context of the culture from multiple perspectives: musical traditions and performance practice, drama traditions, literary and dance traditions. (2 credits) Row

MHST 546 – Music of IndiaThe classical traditions of North and South India are explored extensively in their cultural contexts, focusing on instrumental and vocal styles, repertoires and improvisation with special reference to the concepts of raga (melodic mode) and tala (rhythm systems). (2 credits) Row

MHST 547 – Music of TurkeyAn introduction to the music of Turkey, both the classical and folk traditions. Through performance projects, recordings, transcriptions, analytical papers, and readings in history, practice and culture, students will explore the continuous tradition of composition and improvisation originating under the multi-ethnic Ottoman empire, which dominated the Middle East, North Africa and eastern Europe since the 14th century. (2 credits) Labaree

MHST 550 – Topics in Medieval MusicMusical style of the 11th through 14th centuries is the primary focus of this seminar, with a specific topic chosen each time. Previous topics have included the 12th century Notre Dame repertory; the medieval motet; the composers Machaut, Landini, and Ciconia. Seminar topics include issues of performance practice, theoretical studies, notation, historical context. Individual term projects and presentation. (2 credits**) Hallmark

»MHST 551 – Ives, Schoenberg, StravinskyStudies the music of Ives, Schoenberg, Stravinsky, their colleagues, and the general context of their works; developments that led to those works and their influence. (2 credits) Heiss

MHST 553 – Russian and Eastern European Musical ModernismAn overview of the musical and artistic developments in the eastern European and Russian cultural climate of the 20th century. Issues of nationalism, exoticism, the relationship of music and ideology, music and religion, music and society, music and other artistic movements (symbolism, futurism, the avant-garde, social realism) and music and other arts will be discussed. Musical developments in the works of Janácek, Stravinsky, Bartók, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Lutoslawski, Ligeti, Penderecki, Gubaidulina, Schnittke, Gorecki, Pärt and others will be studied. The grade will be based on student presentations, short response papers and a final research project. (2 credits) Markovic

MHST 556 – MessiaenThe music of Olivier Messiaen is often described as “highly individual.” Yet, Messiaen’s musical style is rooted in the mainstream western European musical tradition. This course explores the truly unique aspects of Messiaen’s musical style and simultaneously reveals the influence of composer’s such as Fauré, Debussy, Bartok and Stravinsky. Areas of study include modality, rhythmic innovation, theology, ornithology, and synesthesia. Course requirements include weekly listening and reading assignments, a performance project, a program note, a research paper and an oral report. (2 credits) Handel

MHST 560A – Area Study in Ethnomusicology: Music of AfricaThis course focuses on African musical styles in relation to their changing social, political, and cultural contexts. It compares musical thought, musicianship and performance practices of three musical cultures: the Shona (Southern Africa) the Mande (West Africa), and the Mbuti pygmies (Central Africa). The emphasis is threefold: one, to deepen students’ conceptual skills in thinking about music in other cultures as well as their own; two, to develop students’ analytical aural and transcription skills of African music; and three, to gain performance skills on African music instruments and, in turn, reflect on the learning process. Class sessions include student-led discussions, performance workshops, and group work built around readings, recordings, and videos. (2 credits) Faculty

MHST 561 – Topics in ImprovisationInvestigates various topics concerning the nature and practice of improvisation in Western musical traditions – classical, jazz, folk, and popular. Topics rotate to include courses such as: “The Music of Jazz Pianist Bill Evans” and “Musical Work vs. Musical Performance.” Topic for the term will be posted in the schedule of courses during registration. Course requirements include a research project and written report as well as brief written or oral responses to reading and listening assignments. (2 credits) Smith, Labaree, Schaphorst

MHST 563 – Issues of Women and Music An exploration of women’s place in music history. Surveys current research, and examines specific topics and issues, including the role of religion, gender, and intertextuality in the medieval motet, the place of the courtesan as musician in Western and other cultures, the representation of women in opera, women performers’ relationship to jazz and rock, and such women composers and performers as Fanny Mendelssohn, Clara Schumann, Ruth Crawford Seeger, Thea Musgrave, and Evelyn Glenni.(2 credits) Hallmark

MHST 565 – History of OperaThis course surveys the history of opera from the 17th century to the present. Its objective is to familiarize students with chronology, terminology, forms and repertoire pertinent to the development of opera as a musical and dramatic genre. Since the emphasis of the course is one of breadth rather than detail, students will be expected to listen to and read a significant amount of material on their own, including original documents, while individual classes will be devoted to representative examples of each stage of operatic evolution. In addition to reading and listening, there will be an independent term project that examines original literary sources , musical structures, current editions and bibliography. (2 credits) Greenwald

MHST 567 – Puccini’s OperasThe course will examine specifically the ways in which Puccini’s works depart from Italian opera tradition, and how he became, as Julian Budden put it, “Wagner’s best pupil.” Another emphasis will be on Puccini’s views on staging; his view that “action speaks louder than words.” The course will use either Madama Butterfly or La bohème for close study. Either of these works is a viable choice, since both speak well for the state of the art of Italian opera at the end of the 19th century, and illustrate Puccini’s mature style. Madama Butterfly is especially apt, since it is a product of the vogue for japonisme ignited by the opening of Japan a half-century earlier and resulting in widespread European fascination with the far East and a large number of “orientalist” operas (by such composers as Mascagni and Saint-Saëns). Sources for Madama Butterfly, moreover, include several easily-accessed English-language publications, including John Luther Long’s short story published in Century Magazine in 1898 (and reprinted in the English National Opera Guide libretto for the opera), and the one-act play, Madame Butterfly, by American playwright David Belasco. La bohème would also work well, since its literary antecedent, Murger’s Scenes of Bohemian Life, is also available. La bohème, moreover, raises important (and contemporary) issues about the way disease is portrayed on the stage and begs comparison with Verdi’s La traviata. (2 credits) Greenwald

MHST 569 – Music and Culture in Fin-de-Siècle ViennaAn exploration of the shift from late romanticism to modernism in the musical and cultural climate of Vienna 1870-1914. Works by Brahms, Mahler, Wolf, Schoenberg, Berg and Webern as well as popular music by the Strauss family, Lehar and others will be examined in the context of contemporaneous artistic trends (Art Nouveau and Secession, Expressionism, Modernism). There will be reading and listening assignments, short essays and a final research project (consisting of a presentation and a paper). (2 credits) Markovic

»MHST 570 – Topics in Renaissance MusicMusical style of the 15th and 16th centuries is the primary focus of this seminar, with a specific topic chosen each time. Previous topics have included the music of Josquin des Pres; the Renaissance chanson; the 16th-century madrigal. Seminar topics include issues of performance practice, theoretical studies, notation, historical context. Individual term projects and presentations. (2 credits**) Hallmark

MHST 570A – English Music in the Age of ShakespeareThis course offers an introduction to the musical world of late-Renaissance England, the age of Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth I. Musical works – including important early repertoires for keyboard, lute, and viols, as well as masses, motets, madrigals, and song – will be explored and experienced within the larger context of English Renaissance and Reformation culture. The social functions of Elizabethan (and Jacobean) music, its role in the Shakespearean theater, and its debt to Continental influences, all inform this introduction to the “Golden Age” of English music. Repertoire includes works by Byrd, Gibbons, Dowland, Campion, Weelkes, and others. (2 credits) Alfieri

MHST 571 – The Musical Work and Musical PerformanceThis course examines commonly held notions about the nature of music and musical performance in Western culture. What is a musical “work”? What distinguishes a work from a performance? Where does authority for a performance reside? With the composer? In the score? With the performer? Is the result of a given performance a “work”? An aesthetic experience? A psycho-motor accomplishment? These and similar questions will be explored through readings from a range of critics and philosophers, and from consideration of music from various styles and periods in Western history, including the jazz. Requirements: weekly reading and listening assignments; a written critique of one of the assigned readings; an independent research project culminating in a written and an oral report. (2 credits) Smith

MHST 572 – Polyphony, A Performer’s Art –1150-1650This study of the craft of polyphony as a performer’s art is focused on four historic types of pieces covering some five centuries of European history: I. organum, II. motet, III. madrigal, and IV. basso continuo. Examples of each of these polyphonic types will be studied in two ways: 1) in selected pieces from these periods, together with theoretical writings and notational practices of their own period, and 2) with reference to comparable living oral traditions of polyphony in the Mediterranean (Sardinia, Corsica), the Balkans (Yugoslavia, Bulgaria), the Caucasus (Georgia), Africa (Liberia, Congo, South Africa) and Indonesia (Bali). Emphasis will be placed on polyphony as an essentially oral, performer-controlled practice, even as students work with early European notation systems and explore five centuries of written music theory. In general, students will be responsible for the European repertoires studied, using the non-European sources as points of comparison. By the end of the course, students should be able to recognize (by ear and in notation) the four polyphonic types and to discuss them as distinct technical and historic forms. (2 credits) Labaree

MHST 578 – Exoticism in Western MusicThe 19th c. explosion of interest in non-European cultures among artists of all kinds in Europe and the U.S. was part of a wider process of globalization which built on ideas about civilizations outside of Europe developing since the Middle Ages. That globalization process continues today across the spectrum of Western culture in both popular music and concert music. Behind this long-standing passion for the exotic lies a fascination with unexperienced possibilities, alternative ways of being which “The Other” – someone different from us – seems to embody. The course will draw on classical European vocal, instrumental and dramatic repertoires from the late 18th to the early 20th centuries, building on the two principal exotic paradigms of the so-called “alla Turca” and “Hungarian” (“Gypsy”) styles. Students will also be presented with exotic 18th and 19th c. painting and with projects involving close work on non-western musical materials through listening and transcription. Final individual research projects may incorporate popular music, jazz and film, as well as concert repertoire. (2 credits) Labaree

MHST 580 – Teaching InternshipTwo-year teaching assignment as an assistant in an undergraduate music history course. (0 credit) Chair

»MHST 901 – Doctoral Seminar in MusicologyIntroduces methods and materials of musicological research through individual projects focused on the life and works of a given composer. Issues include source studies, historiography, performance practice, and criticism. (3 credits) Senior Faculty